Simple version that matches key/value pairs, removing whitespace, delimiters are not allowed

Therefore if your line starts with something that looks like a key, then it is a key... There is no escaping...

Sample

key.abc-funny_blah: value value line 2 value line 3

key2.76yUKLnm_-: value 2 single line simple.key: yes, good simple value simple.key2: very good

Starting Regex

• This is working, but fails to remove trailing whitespace from a value
• shortened: ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+):(?:\s|\r|\n)*((?:(?:.|\n|\r)(?!^[a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+:))+)
• Requires multi-line & global modifiers

^([a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+) # key : (?:\s|\r|\n)* ((?: (?:.|\n|\r) # characters we want (?!^[a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+:) # But NOT if those characters make up a key )+)